Stephanie

Bloom open in the space between lovers,
between every faceless person who never
loved you how you deserved to be loved,
everything that drew blood, everyone
who eclipsed you, older but never wiser.
It is not your fault that their hands mangled
the good in you, pressing in like slick clay,
crumpling your heart in their overgrown fists.
Set yourself free, need less, be more, loved
regardless. Do not beg for it, it will come to you
without calling, without bared teeth hungry
for a bite of your softness. You will be soft,
but you will be strong, you will love yourself
even in the dark alone. This is a promise.

Jacob

Unsheath your heart, bare arms, be the one
you needed for yourself. Pull the teeth from
the people who deserve it. Do not ignore
your own ache. Do not dismiss the haunted images
that pour from the woodwork in the quiet moments
of shaking sadness. Fear none. Separate the good 
from the rest, pull apart your ribs to find it there.
Eat some. Live some. Smoke less. Please
stay funny. Please lighten the room like you do.
Be the good. Fight for it, but you must still fight
for yourself first. Let the taste wash out, let
the tang of the past dissolve, swallow the sun.
Let it turn your insides gold. When you open
your eyes see the truth, see yourself alive.

Amy

You are just a girl, remember that’s all 
you need to be, and that you will always be more.
There will be children who love you. There will be
a time when you are set free from every chain
that nooses your ankles. You will run freely
in the dark to clear your head, and there will be 
no devil on your back. And even the angels
will be silent. You don’t need their guidance.
You are your own angel. You are a mother of many
beautiful things. Your voice will forever ramble
like a brook through the spaces you inhabit.
Take a moment to breathe. Feel it fully, truly
saturating your heart with oxygen. Use it wisely
to make light, to grow love, to be free, to run.

Lillian

Your heart is the color of lavender. You are so young
that it is terrifying. Let the blue sky fold into your hair,
let life unfurl in the basin of your palms. Be young.
Stay young. Stay radiant in the face of torrential rain.
Never let yourself get touched by the downpour, let it wash
around you, let yourself stay warm and dry and safe.
Use the water to grow, soak your roots, and flower.
Write your poems. Do not let anyone tell you differently.
Remember the last line. Live by it. Forever be the poem.
Let the bad dream of it all fade in the violet daybreak,
unfold towards the sun like a wildflower. Make sugar,
be sweet. Be mindful of you words, know your power,
use it for tenderness. Stay tender, stay gentle, stay.
Don’t grow out of your radiance, your beauty, your strength.

The Rest

Let your names dissolve, your whole beautiful hearts
devolve into just fractions, stained from being pressed 
against the hearts of everyone you meet. Get free, leave,
but leave a memory behind. The shape of a face, the poem,
the half-smile, the bad joke, the story, the place, the shadow.
Your memory flickers but it is never less significant. 
Be memorialized in the tiny things. Every person met,
ever person needed to be met, every human connection
means something profound. Believe in fate. Be the reason
someone else believes in fate. This is what you leave.
Find yourself as a lifeboat. Be your own damn lifeboat,
be the lifeboat for someone else who needs it. Find yourself 
hoping. Be the hope, small, yet enough. Please stay safe,
stay well, stay in the background of a memory, stay alive.

I hope this reaches you.